Back to the Land: Youth and Homemaking on the Countryside

Magistrsko delo predstavlja posebno vrsto migracije v okviru Slovenije: selitev mladih, ki so se pred ali po selitvi odločili za kmetovanje, iz mesta na podeželje. Tovrstna selitev je teoretsko umeščena v polje življenjsko-stilskih migracij, katerih pomembna motivacija je zamišljanje novih okoliščin kot takih, ki bolje ustrezajo vrednotam in zasledovanemu življenjskemu stilu t. i. urbano-ruralnih migrantov. Uvodoma je zato orisana dialektika med urbanim in ruralnim prostorom. Raziskava namiguje, da bi bil pojav lahko povezan z idejami gibanja »nazaj k zemlji«, ki se je skozi zgodovino krepil v kriznih časih, posebej očiten pa je postal v času oblikovanja kontrakulture v 60. letih prejšnjega stoletja. Jedro besedila sestavlja šest etnografskih primerov mladih parov in družin, ki so se iz mesta na podeželje preselili v obdobju zadnjih 15 let in se začeli ukvarjati z nekonvencionalnim samooskrbnim in (tudi) tržnim kmetovanjem. S primeri so predstavljeni dejavniki odločanja za selitev in vzpostavljanje kmetij ter procesi učenja. Avtorica se v jedru prav tako posveti sistemu vrednot urbano-ruralnih migrantov, mreženju med njimi in osmišljanju njihove izbire. Pri tem v ozir vzame tudi čas epidemije covid-19 in razmišljanje o drugih sodobnih krizah. V izogib pastem idealizacije tovrstnega načina življenja pokaže tudi na izkušanje ovir, izzive pri integraciji v novo okolje, zamišljanju prihodnosti in soočanju z negotovostjo.This master thesis presents a specific type of migration in Slovenia: the migration of young people from the city to the countryside, and who have chosen to become farmers before or after moving. This type of migration is theoretically situated in the field of the lifestyle migration. An important motivation of this type of migration is the imagining of new circumstances as those that are better suited to the values and the pursued lifestyle of the so-called urban-rural migrants. Because of this, the dialectic between the urban and the rural space is outlined in the introduction. This research suggests that this phenomenon could be linked to the ideas of the back-to-the-land movement, which had been strenghtened throughout history during times of crisis especially, but became particularly pronounced during the emergence of the counterculture in the 1960s. The core of this text consists of six ethnographic cases of young couples and families who have moved from the city to the countryside in the last 15 years and started to engage in unconventional self-sufficient and (also) market-oriented farming. Through their stories their deciding factors for moving, setting up farms and the learning processes are preseneted. The author also focuses on the value system of urban-rural migrants, the networking among them and on the meaning they make out of their choices. In doing so, she also considers the period of the COVID-19 epidemic and reflects on other contemporary crises. Although there are pitfalls of idealizing this way of life, the author also shows their experiencing of obstacles, the challenges of integrating into a new environment, imagining the future and facing uncertainty